This invention relates to a liner, and more particularly to a liner for food product cases.
Many supermarkets and other retail or wholesale food stores use refrigerated cases for displaying perishable food items to self-service customers. Commonly, packaged meat, chicken and fish are arranged on a display surface in a refrigerated case. Likewise, fresh vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, beans or the like are arranged on a display surface of a refrigerated vegetable case which may include means to periodically mist or spray water on the vegetables to maintain their freshness.
Typically, the display surface of the food product cases of the type described is sloped or inclined downwardly toward the customer to provide for better access and viewing of the food items by the customer. One problem associated with the food product cases having a sloped display surface is that the food items thereon have a tendency to shift or slide toward the lower front edge of the food case. As a result, the food items in the case may have a tendency to accumulate at the lower front edge of the case and thereby minimize the number of products which are easily accessible and the visual effect of the displayed products because the products are in a pile at the front edge of the case.
It is well known to place perforate liners between the product display surface of food cases and the food items themselves to allow air and moisture to pass beneath the food items and to provide a cushion between the food and the case. Such known liners are fabricated from expanded PVC with polyester woven lace and as such have a tendency to absorb and retain moisture. The absorbency of known food case liners presents a potential health problem because the absorbent liner provides a host for the growth of bacteria which obviously should be avoided for products used in association with food items. As such, known food case liners present potentially significant health and safety problems and have proven to be ineffective in providing a proper surface for the arrangement and display of the food items in the food case.